It has been six full turns
of the shēngxiào since the day
you brought a baby dragon
into the world and as quickly
set it free, never looking back.
It is again my year, and you
have been gone for two decades
but I was born of water
and so it is perhaps natural
that on special days
I continue to honor
your memory with my tears
for that is what a son does
for the mother he never met.